Winch



Nov. 29, 1966 T. s. HOLMES 3,288,439

WINCH Filed Jan. 25. 1965 2 shersheet 1,

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Nov. 29, 1966 T. s. HOLMES 3,288,439

WNGH

Filed Jan. 25. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet United States Patent O 3,288,439 WINCH Tracy S. Holmes, 649 Hightree Road, Uplifters Ranch, Santa Monica, Calif. Filed Jan. 25, 1965, Ser. No. 427,609 1 Claim. (Cl. 254--150) The present invention relates generally to Winches, Windlasses and capstans, and more particularly to :a hand powered winch used for tensioning lines on small sailing craft such as sheets, halyards and the like.

While features of this invention are useful in various types of Winches, the illustrative embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings described below is what is generally termed as a sheet winch, i.e., a winch for handling jib sheets, spinnaker sheets and the like on small sailing craft. The conventionally employed sheet winch has a vertical axis drum rotatably mounted to a horizontal surface such as a deck coaming, and is used by taking one or two wraps around the drum of the winch maintaining tension on the line (tailing), and winding the winch drum by means of a `hand crank or lever to apply tension to and draw in the standing part of the line.

Sheet Winches are normally equipped with ratchets and pawls designed to permit winding by intermittent and reciprocal turning of the drive crank and also to prevent counter-rotation of the drive drum due to the tension in the standing part of the line.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a winch structure of the class above described having an improved coefficient of friction in the driving drum engaging the line.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a winch of the class described having improved wearing abilities in the ratchet and pawl portions of the structure.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a winch of the class described in which the parts subjected to major wear are symmetrical in shape so as to permit reversal of the worn parts to present new and unworn surfaces, thus to greatly increase the life of the structure.

It is a still'further object of the invention to provide a winch of the class described which is relatively simple in construction, easily :assembled and disassembled for repair and replacement of Worn parts.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the attached drawings in which:

FIGURE l is an elevational partially sectioned view of a sheet winch embodying a presently preferred form of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational section taken on the line 3 3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are upper and lower horizontal sections taken on the lines 4-4 and 5 5 respectively in FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE l illustrating an alternate construction embodying my invention.

Referring first to FIGURE l, the sheet winch will be seen to comprise a stationary base structure 10 having a mounting flange 11 secured to a horizontal surface by flat-head screws or bolts 13 and having an upstanding, hollow hub 12. Rotatably mounted on the hub 12 is a drum structure 15 comprising lower and upper end flanges 16a and 16b, respectively, tand a cylindrical, hollow drum 17 serrated at 17a to provide longitudinal grooves which receive rectangular whelps 18. The whelps 18 are of a relatively high friction material such as teakwood, and project somewhat beyond the external surface of the drum 17 whereby to materially increase the frictional wrapping 3,288,439 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 engagement with a line wrapped around the drum structure 15 between the end flanges 16a and 1611.

Each of the end flanges, 16a and 1Gb, has an inwardly projecting annular shoulder, 14a and 14b, respectively, which overlaps the ends of the longitudinal grooves whereby the whelps 18 are retained in their respective grooves.

Rotational mounting forvthe drum structure 15 is provided in the form of a circumferential row of balls 21a which run in amraee 35a formed in the base structure 10 surrounding the lower end of the hub 12. A complementary race 20a is formed in the lower end flange 16a of the drum structure 15 to engage the bearing balls 21a. The

upper flange 16h is formed with an identical ball race 2Gb which receivesla circumferential row of balls 2lb and a complementary ball race 3511 formed in a driving member 30 by which manual driving torque may be applied to the drum as will be described.

It will be noted that the ball bearings at 21a and 2lb are of the separable or magneto type and that they are designed to take a combination of axial and radial loading. Such vbearings are desired for the present application because of the relatively severe radial loading to which the drum is subjected and since they permit the compensation for wear in the races by taking up on the axial loading as will be described.

The driving member 30 is also independently and ro tatably mounted on a fixed bolt 34 received in a threaded axial bore of the hub 12 in the base structure 10. A bearing bushing 33 of nylon or similar low friction material is pressed into the hub 32 of the driving member 30 to reduce friction and improve the wear resistance at that point.

Suitable axial loading to take up for wear may be applied to the ball bearings at 21a and 2lb by adjust` ment of the bolt 34 applying axial pressure on the flanged bushing 33. An oil hole is provided at 44 in the flange of the driving member 30 whereby lubricationmay be furnished to the ball bearings at 21a and 2lb, the excess oil from the upper bearings at 2lb running down the exterior of the hub 32 of the driving member and dripping off to collect in the race 35a of the lower ball bearing.

The driving member 30 has a coaxial, tapered hexagonal socket formed therein as shown at 32 to receive the complemental hexagonal hub 42 of a hand crank 41 for manual rotation of the driving member. The taper of the hub 42 and socket 32 provides snug driving en` gagement of the crank 42 in the driving member 3i) but permits ready removal of the crank to facilitate wrapping or unwrapping of line around the drum 17.

Driving engagement between the driving member 30 and the drum structure 15 is provided in the form of a pawl 36h pivotally mounted on the underside of the flange 31 of the driving member and positioned to engage internal ratchet teeth 22b formed Vin a ring in the upper end flange 16b of the drum structure 15. The pawl 36b is mounted on a pivot pin 37b which is pressed into the flange 31 of the driving member 30. A tension spring 33h anchored on a pin 39h, also pressed into the underside of the flange 31, engages a lug 39e at the rear of the rear of the pawl 36b thus swinging the same into yieldable engagement with the ratchet teeth 22b.

It will be seen from an examination of FIGURE 4 that clockwise rotation of the driving member 30 will rotate the drum structure 15 in the same direction due to the direct thrust engagement of the end of the pawl 361; with the abutting face of one of the ratchet teeth 22b. Counterclockwise rotation of the driving member 30 will, however, cause the pawl 3611 to cam over the ratchet teeth 22b thus moving in a retrograde direction to take a new bite.

Retrograde rotation of the drum structure is prevented by an identical pawl structure 36a, mounted on a pivot pin 37a pressed into the flange 11 of the base 10. An identical tension spring 38a anchored at 39a and engaged with the pawl at 39h serves to maintain the yieldable engagement of the pawl 36a with ratchet teeth 22a formed in the lower drum flange 16a.

A comparison of FIGURES 4 and 5 will show that the drum structure 15 is symmetrical about a transverse horizontal plane midway between the end flanges 16a and 161) and that the ratchet teeth 22a are identical in shape and configuration. Moreover, the ratchet teeth 22a and 2211 are each of symmetrical configuration about a radius through the apex thereof. Thus, the slope of the forward side of any given tooth is the same as the slope of the rearward side.

The symmetry above-described permits a reversal of the drum structure 1S end for end by simply removing the single central bolt 34, the driving member 30, and the balls 2lb, and turning the drum over and reassembling the structure. Such reversal of the drum not only presents new faces of the ratchet teeth at 22a and 22h to the respective pawls 36a and 36b, but presents new edges of the whelps 13 for tension engagement of a line wrapped around the drum structure 15. Such distribution of the wear over the entire front and back surfaces of the ratchet teeth greatly lengthens the life of same and thus lengthens the useful life of the winch structure as a whole.

An important feature of the present invention is the fact that the wrapping coeflicient of friction between a line and the drum having the projecting whelps 18 is very much greater than the coefficient of friction between the line and the bare cylindrical drum surface of a conventional sheet Winch. Moreover, as the whelps 18 wear, their forward or driving edges become worn; a reversal of the drum in the manner above described presents fresh edges and lengthens the life of the whelps.

When both edges of the whelps 18 have been worn smooth, thus to reduce the coellicient of friction somewhat, they may be replaced by disassembling the drum structure 15 and replacing the whelps. To this end, the drum structure 15 is constructed in three separate parts as previously described, the end flanges 16a and 1Gb being attached to the drum 17 by means of radial drive pins 19.

A still further advantage of the arrangement shown lies in the fact that the projecting whelps 18 while providing relatively great wrapping friction as above noted, present relatively small frictional resistance to the relative longitudinal sliding of line along the drum. Such relative longitudinal movement is 'required in winches of this type due to the helical arrangement of a line wrapped around the drum. Because of this helical arrangement as the line is wound in, it progresses longitudinally along the druin until it reaches one of the end flanges 16a and 161) at which a wedging action of the incoming line against the flange which continuously slides the turns of line on the drum longitudinally along the drum surface.

Unless the resistance to the longitudinal sliding, above described, is relatively low, the incoming line will ride up over the turns already on the drum wrap on top of such turns. Such overriding turns prevent the effective use of a winch of this type but are avoided in the present invention due to the relatively reduced longitudinal friction above described.

An alternate construction embodying my invention is depicted in FIGURE 6. The alternate construction is similar to that previously described, except that a separate cylindrical journal or sleeve bearing and a pair of flat thrust bearings or washers are usedinstead of the combination thrust-radial ball bearings shown in FIG- URES 1 and 4. The respective parts of the FIGURE 6 embodiment are designated by prime numbers where they closely correspond to similar parts on the previously described embodiment.

As in the first described construction, the alternate construction includes a base 10', a hub 12', and a drum structure 15 rotatably mounted on the hub, comprising lower and upper end flanges 16a' and 16b respectively, and a drum 17 serrated at 17a to provide longitudinal grooves receiving the rectangular whelps 18.

The drum structure 15 is rotatably carried on a journal surface 12a formed in the hub 12', the drum having a sleeve bearing 46, concentrically mounted therein and secured thereto both circumferentially and vertically by the same radial drive pins 19 which secure the end flanges 16a and 16.5 to the drum 17.

The sleeve bearing 46 is of uniform internal diameter end-to-end and extends upwardly beyond the upper end of the hub 12 thus to receive an upper hub or journal 32 formed in a driving member 30 similar in construction to that previously described. Thus the drive member 30 may rotate in the bearing 46 and the drum structure may also rotate on the base 10.

The sleeve bearing 46 is constructed of a relatively low friction material, such as Oilite (a sintered bronzegraphite mixture) whereby friction between the journal surfaces y12a and 32a and the bearing 46, is materially reduced.

The drum structure 15' is restrained against axial movement by a pair of llat thrust washers or bearings 48a and 48b. A lower thrust bearing 48a is provided in a form of a washer of a low friction material such as Oilite. The lower thrust bearing 48a rests on a circumferential shoulder Sila, formed in the base 10 surrounding the lower end of the hub 12.

A flange 31 in the driving member 30' of the alternate construction, is formed with an identical shoulder 50b, which receives an upper thrust bearing 48b of similar material to that of the lower thrust bearing 48a. As in the previous construction, the driving member 30' is rotatably secured against axial separation from the cap 12', by a central bolt 34 received in a flanged bearing 33 formed in the hollow cup 32 of the driving member 30.

An oil hole 44 is provided in the driving member 30 whereby lubrication may be furnished to all of the bearings. Oil introduced through the oil hole 44 first lubricates the upper thrust bearing 48a and the excess passes to the sleeve bearing 46, where some is absorbed and the remained passes through the bearing 46 to the lower thrust bearing 48a.

It will be apparent that the operation of the alternate form of construction just described, is identical to that of the embodiment first described. Likewise, the alternate embodiment has the same advantage of reversability to present new wearing surfaces in the ratchet pawl engagement.

While the particular forms of winch shown and described herein are fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it will be realized by those skilled in the art that they are capable of considerable modification and rearrangement without departure from the spirit of the invention. For this reason, I do not mean to be limited to the forms shown and described but rather to the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A winch comprising in combination:

a fixed base structure adapted to be secured to a mounting surface;

a drum `having removably attached end flanges and containing spaced longitudinal grooves each adapted to receive a whelp;

each of said flanges having a coaxial annular shoulder formed thereon and projecting inwardly to surround an adjacent end portion of said drum and overlie ends of said whelps to retain the same in said grooves;

a rotatable drive assembly having means to apply manual driving torque thereto;

bearing means rotatably engaged with said drum, providing radial and thrust support for said drum on said base structure and for said drive assembly on said drum;

rst ratchet and pawl means formed in said rst drum end and in said base structure, respectively, and interengaged to permit relative rotation of said drum on said structure in one direction and prevent such rotation in the other direction;

and second ratchet and pawl means formed in the other drum end and in said ydrive assembly, respectively, and interengaged to permit relative rotation of said drive assembly with respect to said drum in a direction opposite that irst mentioned and preventing such relative rotation in the other direction whereby reciprocating manual rotation of said driving assembly intermittently drives said drum in one direction;

said first and second ratchet and pawl means being substantially identical in dimensions and tooth con- 6 figuration and said bearing means being symmetrical about a transverse plane midway between the drum ends whereby said drum may be inverted with respect to said base structure and drive assembly to interchange the respective engagement of said ratchet and pawl means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 20 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

